And so your journey Begins Open to 2 Closed

He was impatient too but he definitely knew a little bit of what to expect. He knew for the most part what he fit into. He stuck to his ideals, he stuck to his morals, with a creativity about him. There was always that feeling deep down that he knew this was the path destined for him. Though over the years the expectations set by his family would put him under pressure to prove his worth. He of all people wanted to prove he could do something, to work hard and prove that.

He thought he wanted to be just like his brother in this moment of his journey. That he needed to get out of a constant shadow to be taken seriously. Ultimately being sorted into Ravenclaw would have made him happy. That was what he wanted wasn’t it?

Hearing her ask about Hogwarts he smiled. “Oh there’s actually 4 houses. Ravenclaw is for the smart, creative people. Hufflepuff is for the loyal and trustworthy. Slytherin is for the cunning and ambitious and Gryffindor is for the brave and chivalrous. Though one of my brother was in Slytherin. It didn’t make sense to me at first. He was super nice! But it makes sense now.” He wasn’t a bad guy he just was ambitious and charming to get what he wanted through any means necessary.

Then again he wasn’t here to speculate why his brother had been put in Slytherin. He was here to learn.

Charlotte was happy to learn a little more about the place she was going to spend the next seven years of her life. Now, she wondered which house she was going to be sorted into but felt like Terrance pretty confident about it.

'Wow, four houses, that must mean a lot of students. I wonder in which one I'm gonna be' she said as she shrugged.

'Do you think you know in which house you're going to be sorted Terrance ?'

Charlotte thought of all the houses and had no clue where she was going to be sorted. Probably not Slytherin.... Having a sibling go to Hogwarts must've been very reassuring in some sort. She would've had some sort of guidelines, some expectations... Discovering it for the first time must be even more magical though...She would be that sibling telling her sisters about this mysterious castle until late at night. She didn't really know if she ought to feel excited or overwhelmed. Or both.

Was the boy happy? Nervous? She couldn't really tell. Actually, she could seem to make out any of his expressions or feelings. She wondered if he could see her fear and apprehension... Probably.

He seemed very proud to have his brother and Charlotte felt very heart-warmed and touched. Did her sisters think the same of her? Were they proud, or did they not care at all... She shook her head and took a deep breath, trying to think of something else.

She was envious of Terrance for his visible calmness, and wondered how he was able to be so serene about everything around him.

To him this was incredibly exciting. On the outside he showed sereneness and coolness even when he was extremely excited. His happiness seemed to be a cautious and reserved happiness even if on the inside he would be jumping for joy. He tried not to let things get to him as hard as it was to not do that. For example picking his battles, especially against people who could tear him to pieces.

He could sense that fear and apprehension but he was in no position to point it out. If she didn’t point something out about him and he wouldn’t like it there was no point in making her feel backed into a corner and guilty about her fear. Emotions and experiences are what helped someone escape danger and grow after all.

“I like to think I do. I mean, I’ve always seen myself as a Ravenclaw. My dad and other older brother were. Everyone says I’m so much like my dad...” he seemed deep in thought for a moment. There were guidelines to each house all right. Each house was different in what it represented so there was bound to be new things to learn. Plus he’s seen the uniforms for each house. He would look good in blue and bronze. Maybe the bronze would only highlight his copper hair.

“Sorry, What do you think you’re going to be put into? Do you have anything that you think fits you?”

Another girl quietly entered the cabin, dragging a medium sized trunk behind her. She wasn’t that much shorter than the boy. Her long, red hair almost constantly falling in her face. Reina looked around nervously, anxiously observing the cabin and the people in it. She had almost no idea what she was supposed to do. She looked over towards the other girl in the cabin. She was anxious about all the unfamiliar people on the train, but the rest of the cabins were completely full. ”Is it ok if I sit with you guys?” She asked in a quieter tone. She was clearly anxious in her new surroundings. ”Way to not be anxious, Reina. Totally nailed it there.” She thought to herself, the sarcasm rang loudly in her head. ”Why can’t I be normal for once? Is that too much to ask?” She continued to think, but her anxiety stayed, just like always. It seemed to follow her like a shadow wherever she went. She just wanted it to go away. All she wanted was to be able to live at least part of her life stress and worry free. She moved a loose strand of her red hair out of her face, becoming annoyed that it kept falling.

The boy turned from his conversation to the girl who had entered the compartment and was now joining the two of them. Just like he had done with Charlotte previously he gave her a once over. “You can join us, seeing as there’s also no other compartments.”

The expression two is company three is a crowd didn’t seem like an accurate statement here. She seemed just as nice if a little bit anxious like Charlotte was. The anxiety was understandable of course. His anxiety seemed to follow him wherever he went to. Namely the what if’s and thousands of possible outcomes he thought about in.

If he had to guess what he thought she could be based on inferences and first impressions he would probably get it wrong. There was still so much to explore with each person. Each person was a mystery waiting to be discovered. That was what he treated people he first met like. And with her that inquisitive side of his was also piqued as it had been with Charlotte.

“What’s your name? Are you a first year?” As he was talking a bit more he was slowly getting more comfortable talking to people. People still were going to intimidate him but he had to make at least an effort this time.

Reina carefully put her trunk away and sat down next to the girl. Her body was still very tense and her anxiety was obvious. ”Yeah, I’m only a first year, I’m Reina.” she answered him. He seemed nice, but could she trust him. Reina has always been anxious, wondering if people actually hated her, or if someone would betray her or not. Reina found her fear of betrayal the hardest thing to overcome. She didn’t trust many people, but she had to at least try to learn to live with people. ”W-what about you? What’s your name?” she asked, trying to start a conversation. “Wow, ok. That was totally brilliant. Nice job, me!” she thought silently to herself, being sarcastic. Of coarse she was going to have a hard time getting around her social awkwardness. She had hardly talked to anyone for the majority of her life. She was usually the one who stayed quiet in the corner of the room. Now she had to at least try and make a friend or two, something she’s always wanted to do, but has never had the courage to try. ”And this is what happens when you grow up in a library...” she continued to think, scolding herself for being so nervous and frustrated with her awkwardness.

The compartment door slid open and Charlotte saw a young girl of about her age carrying a seemingly very heavy trunk, maybe even more than Charlotte’s one. Her long, beautiful red hair fell behind her back gracefully in slight waves, with a few rebel strands covering her face. She seemed anxious, even more than herself. Her trunk away, the girl sat besides her. Terrance asked the first question.

"What’s your name? Are you a first year?"

"Yeah, I’m only a first year, I’m Reina."

Charlotte listened to both of them, happy to hear the girl was a first year too. Reina was such a majestic name, very close to 'Reine' in French, meaning Queen. She was immediately intrigued about Reina, eager to know more about her. Was she anxious about having to leave her family for such a long time or heading to an unknown destination for quite a long period of time ?Both of them seemed rather stressful, to be honest.

'I'm Charlotte Cadunt. First year too. Love your name !' she said as she held out her hand, a friendly smile on her face.

The girl's nervousness didn't seemed to fade at all and Charlotte understood her very well, feeling she should try to reassure her a little.

'I'm super nervous too, that makes two of us' she said chuckling slightly. She felt somewhat better to see she wasn't the only one to be uneasy about this whole new chapter of their lives.

Listening to them talk to each other was interesting. He had to admit Reina was a really pretty name. It definitely did make him think of queen or something similar. Maybe that’s what it actually meant or maybe she didn’t quite know herself what it meant.

“I’m Terrance by the way.” Even deep in thought he still wanted to acknowledge the fact that he was there with him. Even if he was going to take out his book again. Though was it going to seem rude if he was reading while they were talking? Would they ever want to talk to him again? Would they just see him as weird?

He didn’t know why he was nervous now too even if he didn’t show it outwardly. These were just some people with him on the Hogwarts Express. He didn’t know if they would be in the same house as him. He didn’t know if he would ever see them again. Even if he was in a different house than them a part of himself hoped that they would see each other again. He didn’t know if he would ever get any friends like that.

Then again he seemed to usually be negative. This was going to be fine. Him reading his book didn’t make him look antisocial at all.

Charlotte saw that Terrance seemed a bit left out, and felt a little bad about it.
'I don't really know, actually... I'm going for Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Terrance wants to be in Ravenclaw, and honestly I think he would fit right in! How about you?'

She didn't know if he would mind her telling Reina this... Maybe he wanted to say it himself? Well now she felt worse.
'Why don't we play a little game, huh? To get to know each other better?'

She had no idea what game to play, now that she thought of it, but she had little time to figure it out.
'Okay, we'll each say a little something about each ourselves. I'll go first.'


She cleared her throat as she thought of what to say.
'So, when I was about seven or eight, my class and teacher had organised this little themed party, where everyone had to wear a costume. Or so I thought. Turns out this girl that didn't like me gave me the wrong information and told me we the theme was cutlery. I mean, I should've understood that it seemed weird.

My mom and I worked all night on this spoon costume, and I showed up very proud of it only to realise that the actual theme was superheroes. I'll just let you imagine the face the teacher made when she saw me arrive, and worst of all, my classmates' faces. Everyone called me SpoonGirl the whole afternoon. So yeah, that's me. Funny thing is that the girl got punished for that and I actually felt bad for her...'

She laughed a little as she remembered that embarassing night, and turned towards Terrance.
'You wanna go next ?'

He looked at her sighed and reluctantly nodded his head. There was a lot that he didn’t really tell people since he didn’t have the most friends I’m his youth. He had a few stories of times he made a fool out of himself or he said something wrong or in general facts about himself. Everyone else was doing it and she made it into some sort of game which actually made him interested and engaged. Charlotte was nice enough. She seemed like she actually might fit in with Hufflepuff. He could already see some traits there that suited her.

“I’m a pureblood. My family has never had a muggle in the family as far as I know. As far as anyone in my family knows, actually. Well we used to have a pet puffskein named custard. Custard loved me, well at least I think he did. Anyways one of my brothers shaved him for school while on winter break last year. Last I heard about it my brother had to clean cauldrons for a week because he was using his fur to pull a prank. I wish I brought some pictures with me of custard.”

Said puffskein a fat, happy puffskein who got all the spiders he wanted and all the attention a puffskein such as him would want.